Beautiful Burden

We are creatures of labor and worry in a predictable world of unpredictably difficult and ever changing circumstances. When the burden we carry is heavy, it is wise to navigate it rather than simply suffer it. Special friends to share the load are one of life's choicest blessings. One painful step at a time, you move forward together. It doesn't hurt to adorn yourselves in beautiful colors.

(Iraqi women)

Burdens, however, are deceptive. The burden of uniformity has purpose to be sure, but the cost is often prohibitive.

(Hostesses in Beigin, China)

The burden of perfection can be an intoxicating and terrible task-master. We can't help but admire it when we see it, yet few of us are willing to invest ourselves in the attempt.

The bizarre and puzzling is a unique burden ~ or Art, depending upon your perspective.

The burden of security and power casts a very large and far-reaching shadow.

Faith can be a burden. The devotion associated with it may seem difficult, yet those who yield a little more of themselves toward the sacred are usually better for it. Consecration requires intentionality.

(Myanmar boy embarking on Buddhist ritual)

Curiosity is a lovely burden. It is after all the impetus for desire that feeds the quest to know.

(Antennae galaxies)

A Season of Life can be an exhausting burden that feels like it will never end . . .

Where you call home can be a burden. Truly meaningful struggle by nature is a lonely and totally committed prospect.

We comfort ourselves and think, "As long as that conflict is removed from my home!" This disconnect affords us comfortable viewing of the many faces of struggle. This is a mistake. We should give pause to such human expressions. We should see instead the shared burden of struggle and honor its tendency to generate powerful results.

(Syrian mother with portrait of son killed by government forces)

Leaving too early is a burden ~

(Daniel Parmertor funeral; school shooting victim)

but only to those suddenly left behind.

Arriving too early is an awesome burden. Our helplessness in either situation makes us feel small.

Large and terrifically complex issues threaten and burden our world. Many of these are things we never planned on and never invited into our lives but are the direct result of extraneous influences. It shakes our foundations.

It hurts. We feel discouraged.

The burden of our discouragement is very real and unique to our individual circumstances. This is a good thing because it also means our discouragement is appropriate to where we are and who we are.

God intended for the smallest of things

(newborn Jack Tanner)

to remind us our burdens (whatever they are) are only temporary.

(Leiland Tanner & newborn MaKenna)

Life is good. Miracles happen every day.

It is our divine capacity to rise above conflicts and disappointments that shatter the negative concept of "burden". Life experience is not valuable if we are simply dragging it behind us. As children of God we eat challenges for breakfast. The resilience of the human spirit is a viable and formidable force. Anything common can be viewed as uncommonly moving. It just depends on if we are indebted to anger, fear and doubt, or if we are willing to dive headlong into the thick of it.

(JOY within the bloody Myanmar Kachin conflict)

Burdens teach us HAPPINESS is elusive; it tugs impatiently at the string, anxious to escape our tentative grasp.

(Jackson Tanner)

It invites us to come out and play,

(Rachel Tanner & Melanie Hale)

to do new things and take dramatic risks.

(Leiland as Joseph in "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat")

(James' brilliant first professional airbrush attempt: Neil Armstrong on the Moon for our mural project @ the Maricopa County Hospital)

Happiness invites us to accept the burden of hard work and fully embrace our dreams

(Robin Tanner and Brooke BYU Graduation)

and each other.

(Leiland Tanner & sisters Asia, Robin & Rachel at his wedding reception)

(James, Jack & Trisha Tanner)

(Robin & Christian Markanich)

(Leiland & Chelsey Tanner)

Looking forward to whatever comes as potentially wonderful, and really trusting our innate ability to make it so

(MaKenna Tanner)

is the magic of viewing any burden as something beautiful,

(Asia)

and is the ultimate definition of Hope.

Two Poems on a Theme

1. At the Window

Light-bedazzled little girl

fairy-like

perched before the window sill

mommy-like,

mimicking the ritual.

Helping hands as time stands still,

in spite

of how quickly she'll be gone ~

and there will be many more windows

to look out upon.

Frozen so, in the white light:

That little girl

(forever mine),

growing up

at the window.

2. Windows

Brilliant white light

streaming in ~

The world outside,

the world

within.

We are all reaching

or

standing still,

some may backwards tread.

But I am one

who prefers to reach

and believe in

Light

instead.

* Inspired by a friend's daughter: Hazel, age 4 ~ cheerfully helping her mommy clean house

Hide and Seek

Sometimes Life feels a little like Hide 'n Seek ~ you never know what might be around the corner, but we have Faith it will be worth the count-down.


We prepare for the day with an awareness of what's out there.



We keep our eyes open for daily lessons learned, and surprises enjoyed.















We are shod with the power of our personal convictions, which guide us & protect us in our walk through life.
Taking time out for reflection is always nurturing . . . and it keeps us humble.

The view of the world at times can be a little scary; but we try not to let our fear over-come our desire to grow.
Conflicts require our focus and resolve. We eventually learn a key to survival: patience.










And when it's just too much, a good cry can be cleansing.






















Hope can prop us up.

Joy is kin to Hope. It lifts us, and reminds us of our better nature. For some, it is a natural response. For others, it comes as a gentle, latent assurance of what we had in us somewhere - after all.

Love is an outward expression of that inward Joy.




Love is a life force we often take for granted.

We should seek it as if we were gasping for air. We should hold onto it as if it meant everything in the world.



It seems a simple thing to perform life's necessary rituals.


But we sometimes forget how truly simple they are, and consider them just the opposite.

Our obligations to ritual and the mundane are just so many drops in the bucket. Even they are required to fill the bucket eventually, which then is the means by which we wash ourselves and immerse ourselves in the reality of Life. Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished while ignoring the little things.

We don't want to forget the thrill of a peanut-butter sandwich. It needn't be ordinary. It can be so much more. Sharing with a friend, dressing for the occasion, and just making a picnic of our simple things is probably a wise policy.

We dream.

It shouldn't be startling in the least that some of our dreams are silly or awkward or utterly meaningless.

What matters is that we can.


Dreams are only undefined until we grasp them, and create a means by which to open them up. This is hard work.



And it is not always successful.

But the more we are willing to work on our dreams, the more open we are to seeing possibilities that were just around the corner; only, we didn't know it yet.

We are often drawn to beautiful things.




















Our instinct to look forward has everything to do with our success in Life, and as a person.Our best sympathies, our best moments of generosity and caring for others ~
show what we are made of.

Stepping out into Life with a confidence Heaven saw in us since the very Beginning is a gift we all have as children; and some how lose later as we begin to doubt ourselves.



I can think of only one place one might walk with satin shoes. Sacred places are a full-circle of what we once were, and where we are going.